Interwoven
by iheartBL
Summary: A/U: Tonks is embarking on her journey to Hogwarts while the Marauders are in their fifth year. Follow Tonks and Lupin as they journey through Hogwarts and beyond as darkness begins to taint their world. Eventually Tonks x Lupin. With sprinkles of James x Lily, and possibly Sirius x Hestia.
1. Hufflepuff Yellow

A/N: Hello to the souls brave enough to dwell on this journey of following Tonks and the Marauders through their Hogwarts adventures and a little beyond. This is my first attempt at a Remus x Tonks multi chapter fic. Tonks is in her first year, and the Marauders' are in their fifth when the story commences. I'll let you know when a new year begins. You'll also read sprinkles of Lily x James, Sirius, Peter, Marlene, Emmeline, Snape, Hestia, and Mary. I might even throw in a bit of Regulus. Let me know how you like the story and constructive criticism is always welcome.

Disclaimer: I disclaim any ownership

* * *

Interwoven

Year 1: Hufflepuff Yellow

Shivering, the girl stepped through the great oak front doors, dripping wet, behind the rest of the first years. She was easily the smallest. Her shoulder-length, bubble-gum pink, hair stuck to her heart-shaped face in an itching mess.

Wrinkling her slender nose, the girl tried thinking of the drying spell she had heard her parents use, but the incantation failed to strike across her brain. Instead, all she could picture were the gigantic tentacles wiggling towards her body before she was whirled out of the liquid depths of the Black Lake and found herself sputtering in the little wooden row boat as the turrets and towers of Hogwarts Castle majestically erupted around her awed eyes in welcome.

Her short-lived adventure in the lake had been a riveting experience, but one she could wait to revisit. The waters felt frigid, and then there was the lack of color. The girl's mind trailed back to the professor's instructions. Her dark eyes blinked in confusion. Due to her reverie, she had missed what the woman had just explained. But no matter, thought the girl with an internal shrug as she scratched at the wrinkled wet mess of fabric covering her arms, she would just watch what the other students did and do the same thing. Her name was bound to be called towards the end. T for Tonks.

xoxoxox

"I've almost done it," exclaimed James Potter.

Potter's voice rung against Remus Lupin's ears just as Emmeline Vance sent Lupin a shy smile and a quick wave before elegantly striding towards the Ravenclaw House Table. Lupin watched her disappear amongst a cluster of girls, chatting, giggling, and catching up after a summer's hiatus. "Done what?" Lupin asked distractedly, trying to seek out the chestnut haired girl amongst all the bronze and blue, but it was a futile attempt as they had reached a crescendo of scarlet and gold.

"Become an Animagi." Potter lowered his voice, walking in stride with Lupin. His hand ran through his dark hair as if he was purposely trying to make it more disheveled than it already was.

"Really?" Lupin gave his friend a discreet smile. Becoming Animagi was the best solution his friends had come up with since discovering Remus Lupin's secret. Taking the forms of animals would allow them to accompany him without putting themselves in danger.

James ceased messing with his hair and dropped a hand upon Lupin's bony shoulder. "Couldn't let your furry little problem just be yours." He grinned cheekily, brightening Remus's mood considerably. Potter's eyes darted around the Gryffindor table until he spotted the individual he was seeking. "Sirius!"

Remus's periwinkle-blue eyes turned where James's voice had carried. A handsome boy sat at the table looking bored. His dark hair had grown considerably over the summer, the thick strands ceasing to spiral a few inches above his broad shoulders. Sirius Black tapped his fingers against the wooden surface of the table in absent fashion. And although his dark eyes brightened when they caught Potter and Lupin, his smile remained strained.

"Thanks," his voice roared bitterly as the boys deposited themselves on either side of him.

"For?" Lupin asked innocently as his eyes darted towards Argus Filch, the castle's caretaker. He was placing an old, patched and pointed hat upon a rickety stool. Lupin wondered if the hat was in better condition than he. The scars weren't so keen on disappearing now. There was one etched right below his collarbone, luckily hidden beneath his button down and Hogwart's robes.

"Leaving me with him." Sirius gestured across the table where a short round boy with straw colored hair and watery blue eyes sat looking sorry and rather frightened. His robes were caked with mud, and his hair and face were dusted with fresh dirt and bits of grass. Peter Pettigrew reeked of the earth.

Lupin pinched the bridge of his nose. His heightened sense of smell made the scent more pungent than it was. Regardless, he shot Pettigrew a sympathetic smile. "What happened?"

"Petey, here, missed a step on the way out of the carriage," answered Sirius. His mouth wilted into a contempt frown.

James Potter roared with laughter.

Peter sunk further into the bench, looking as if he wished it would swallow him up.

"Oh, look," Sirius stated, sitting upright as all confrontation with "Petey" was forgotten. He pointed towards the double doors as they magically burst open to reveal a group of timid yet excited first years filing in. "The sorting is about to begin."

Lupin arched a curious brow at Black. "And why are you so excited?" Sirius had never given any particular interest to the sorting before whereas James would assess the newcomers for potential quidditch recruits.

"My favorite cousin's offspring is starting Hogwarts this year," he answered as his grey eyes roamed over each individual striding towards the rickety stool that looked incapable of supporting any more weight than the old hat. "I want to see where she ends up."

"I swear they get smaller each year," James added, his dark eyes squinting at the line of 11 year olds from behind his round spectacles.

"That's her!" Sirius said, his head ceasing to swerve here and there.

He pointed towards a small girl, her face pointed towards the dark enchanted ceiling, a perfect rendering of the sky outdoors, in a mesmerized fashion. Her robes were a sopping mess, sending streaks of water across the stone-flagged floor as she followed the dwindling line towards the stool bearing the sorting hat.

Professor McGonagall, head of Gryffindor house, called the first student forward, and the hat bellowed "Ravenclaw" the moment it touched his head. Lupin tossed his head towards the Ravenclaw table and spotted Emmeline clapping as she excitedly whispered to the girl adjacent to her. He swore his heart skipped a beat when her sapphire orbs caught his for the briefest of moments, leaving him with notions where he was the one seated next to her as she delicately whispered into his ear.

Pettigrew cast Lupin a curious look, causing Remus to awkwardly smile and quickly turn away from the Ravenclaw table. Instead, Lupin was forced to turn his attention back towards the girl that was Sirius's cousin, once removed. It was then Remus noticed that her hair was bubblegum-pink. It stood out amongst all the usual black, brown, red, and blonde. It was rather intriguing.

The line had grown considerably shorter when Professor McGonagall called out, "Nymphadora Tonks," and the girl with bubble-gum pink hair strode forward with a flush. Sirius smirked. Remus, too, had noticed the frown that graced the girl's heart-shaped face as she made the short journey towards the hat. However, her destination was not reached, and she found herself acquainted with the floor, having tripped over the hem of her wet robes.

Stillness riddled the air a brief moment before the hall was filled with echoed trills of laughter. Even Sirius grinned comically, struggling to keep from joining in. Nymphadora, however, remained unabashed. Picking herself up, she strode towards the hat, this time without a hitch, and as if nothing had happened, deposited herself upon the stool with a confident smile.

Lupin found himself holding his breath along with Sirius as the hat was placed upon the 11 year olds head, delving into the layers of her mind.

Seconds ticked by before the hat shouted, "Hufflepuff!"

Sirius's smile wilted.

A grin broke across Nymphadora's heart-shaped face. Screwing her facial features, the girl cheerfully hopped off the stool. Where her hair was bubblegum-pink seconds ago, it had now turned Hufflepuff yellow.

The Hufflepuffs broke out into an impressive round of applause while other's gasped at the small girl's ability.

Lupin heard Emmeline say, "She's a Metamorphmagus!" but he had no idea what that meant.

"She's alright, your cousin," Potter exclaimed, clapping along with the Hufflepuffs. "That was amazing. Did you know she could do that?"

"Yeah," Sirius said, smiling proudly as if he was the one that had taught Nymphadora how to change the color of her hair.

"A bit clumsy though," Peter Pettigrew added.

xoxoxox

Once the opening feast ended, and the plates magically disappeared through the house tables, Remus Lupin swung his legs over the bench and pushed himself to a standing position. "I'm going to go find…" He stopped the moment he caught the sour look James was giving him. Averting his gaze from his friend, Lupin cleared his throat before finishing his sentence. "Lily."

Lily Evans, a fellow fifth year Gryffindor, was also a prefect. James's frown deepened. However, there was pink, reminiscent of the color of Nyhmphadora Tonks's hair, circulating in his cheeks. "Go be prefects together," James said, turning to face away from Remus. A dramatic sigh followed.

A smirk broke across Lupin's pallid cheeks. "You could ease the jinxing," he suggested.

"And tarnish my reputation?" James challenged, lifting himself up off the bench.

Remus shrugged his shoulders in response. His periwinkle eyes fell to the shiny gold badge, embossed with a P over the Gryffindor crest, pinned to his robes. "You could've been the one patrolling the corridors with Evans then."

A giggle, sounding a tad sinister at the moment, broke out from behind Lupin. "He wouldn't make prefect if he was the last wizard standing."

Remus spun around to face a pretty red head with doe like green eyes. With hands upon her hips, and a gleam in her wide eyes, she stared back at the boys with a scowl that just didn't suit her. However, it vanished the moment she met Remus's gaze. James turned sulky. "I'm sorry we didn't get to catch up properly while we patrolled the Express, Remus." Lily looked sincerely apologetic. "I do hope you've had a good summer."

"No matter," Lupin stated, chancing a glance towards the sulking Potter, who was trying his best to not look offended at clearly having been ignored by Evans.

Breathing heavily through his nostrils, James muttered, "Perhaps someday, Evans." Then he dispersed amongst the crowd trying to exit the Great Hall in search of Black and Pettigrew.

Remus sweat-dropped, running a hand through his honey-brown hair.

The atmosphere had turned oddly awkward, but Lily remained undeterred. "Emmeline's made prefect too," she continued as if James had never graced her vision, or as if Remus hadn't noticed Emmeline in the prefects' compartment on the train. But it was hard not to notice Emmeline Vance with her silky chestnut brown locks and those gorgeous sapphire blue eyes. Then there was the way she elegantly waved as if she belonged to a family of great nobility.

"Hestia's totally bitter."

Remus shook away his thoughts. He was sure he was all pink in the face. His neck certainly felt hot enough. "I-Is she?" he choked out, hoping he had heard Lily correctly for he had lost himself shamelessly in a vision of Emmeline.

Lily beamed him with a smile and shook her head dismissively as if she had seen right through Remus and his thoughts of her Ravenclaw friend. Grabbing a hold of his robes, she steered him through the throng of students trying to head off to their respective common rooms. "Come on, we've got first years to lead and a password to give out." Her eyes fell to his wrist, which had been exposed when initially leading him. "What happened to your wrist?" she asked in alarm, her startlingly green eyes observing the scar he had earned when forced to bite himself on the previous full moon.

Lupin turned scarlet and hastily pulled down the sleeve of his robe. "Quidditch accident," he answered quickly.

"I didn't know you played."

Remus tossed Lily a knowing look. "You do realize whom I'm friends with?" he retorted, referring to James Potter, who was an excellent Chaser for the Gryffindor Quidditch Team.

A mischievous grin graced Lily's lips, which caused Remus to chuckle. "I prefer to forget."


	2. Don't call me Nymphadora

A/N: A special thanks to _Seena T_ and _JohanKole96_ for reviewing the story. I'm so glad you like mini Tonks.

I already have the ending to Tonk's third year at Hogwarts written out, but I don't know the ending of her first year :/ Furthermore, I have a few scenes written out for Tonk's fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh years too, which includes Remus beyond his school years.

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Year 1: Don't call me Nypmhadora

Sirius Black's lips were stretched into a broad grin when Nymphadora Tonks spotted him gazing at her fellow housemate, Hestia Jones, longingly from the entrance of the Great Hall. To her surprise, Jones winked as she walked passed Black, her pin-straight hair skirting to her shoulders. Tonks mischievously smiled as she watched the fifth years' exchange. Sirius coolly ran a hand through his hair, and Hestia gave her thick lashes an extra flutter.

"Is that your girlfriend?" Tonks asked Black through a smirk as she approached him. Hestia Jones had perched herself at the Hufflepuff table for breakfast. Her nose wrinkled as the Hufflepuff head of house, Pomona Sprout, handed her her schedule.

Startled that someone had witnessed his attempts at flirting, Sirius succumbed to a blush. His grey eyes widened at the sight of the little pink haired girl gazing up at him with blatant curiosity. "Not yet," he gritted the words through his teeth. His smile was strained. Sirius swore he saw the "why" about to pour from the girl's lips, so he asked, "Your hair is pink again?" just to keep her from asking a string of questions.

She fingered a tuft of silky pink strands. The ends curved out. "Don't you like it?" Tonks asked.

Surprised by her need of approval, Sirius folded his arms and gazed back at her appraisingly. "And since when has that mattered to you?"

"It doesn't," Tonks sobered. And just to prove it to him, she smiled, and he was beamed with those prominent Black Family cheeks reminiscent of his own.

Nymphadora Tonks was the daughter of his cousin, Andromeda, who also happened to be the sister of his father, Orion Black. The Blacks raved about their pureblood status. Therefore, when Andromeda married a muggleborn, she was literally burned off the family tree. Sirius nodded in approval, and made a mental note to send Andromeda, his favorite family member, an owl to see how she was doing during his free time. He was just about to share this idea with Tonks when his vision was graced by the presence of his friend, Remus Lupin, entering the Great Hall. His thin profile was masked behind a book.

Glancing up from the book he was hidden behind, Lupin followed the voice of his friend, Sirius Black, and found him standing between the Hufflepuff and Gryffindor tables conversing casually with a pink haired girl that was the boy's cousin once removed. Clasping the book shut, he approached the pair with a friendly wave.

"Lessons haven't even started yet." Sirius indicated the book tucked into Remus's arms with his eyes.

"Actually," Remus began as his long slender fingers rhythmically beat against the book's spine.

But Sirius didn't let him finish. "I know it's OWL year," he interjected. "But do you really need to tarnish the last hours of summer?" His index finger extended towards the enchanted ceiling vertically. Remus was forced to look up and was beamed with a depiction of a clear blue sky streaked with rays of golden sunshine. It alluded to a perfect day. Remus, however, frowned internally and instead administered a sigh. His blue eyes slid towards the girl staring at him curiously. Pink painted across his cheeks. It felt as if he had been caught in something sticky, feeling awkward at being watched so intently.

"Wotcher, are you his friend?" There was a slight rasp to her voice. Her lips spread into a smile, easing the stickiness as her twinkling eyes roamed over his face as if trying to commit his features to memory. A smidge of hollowness encompassed his cheeks, but Tonks decided it suited him. His periwinkle-blue eyes appeared to stretch into an eternal tiredness she could not quite understand, but it had her intrigued.

Remus's frown faded to be replaced by a smile that hinted at a tease hidden up his sleeve. "Why, yes. When he's on my good side."

Sirius frowned in response.

The pink haired girl giggled, turning to face her pouting cousin. "I like him," she exclaimed as Sirius tossed Remus a grimace.

"Remus John Lupin, and you must be Nymphadora Tonks."

Her mouth had opened the moment he had extended his arm towards her in greeting. She had even caught sight of the raised fleshy-pink bump etched into his wrist. However, the moment his uttering of her first name reached her ears, Tonks's curiosity towards how Lupin had earned that scar dissipated as her insides were replaced with a fire. "Don't call me Nymphadora, Remus."

Catching her admonishing gaze, Lupin turned to Black with an expression laced with alarm and curiosity. His arm was still extended towards Nymphadora.

Sirius, however, looked amused. Smacking his forehead, he said, "I forgot. She doesn't like her first name."

Remus mentally scoffed. He was quite certain Sirius's apology was in no way innocent or sincere.

Nymphadora's lips fell into a pout. "You wouldn't either, if your fool of a mother called you Nymphadora," she said darkly.

Lupin's eyes widened in surprise at how the girl had addressed her mother.

Catching his astounded eyes, Tonks amended, "I love my mum. Just not her choice in names." She laughed. "Call me Tonks." She shook his cool hand as her eyes trailed to the title of the book he had initially been masked behind. "You can't become a Metamorphmagus by reading about it in a book. I was born with it."

Remus blushed. His long fingers once more picked up their exercise of absently tapping against the book's spine. "Oh, I was just curious."

Sirius's chuckle rumbled from his throat. "Or you heard Emmeline mention it."

Still pink in the face, Lupin shot Black an infuriated expression, causing Sirius to swallow whatever else he had been itching to say.

"Who is Emmeline?" Tonks pressed, her eyes darting between the two boys.

Sirius sobered and answered before Remus could. "Remus's girlfriend. She just doesn't know it yet."

"Oh," Tonks smirked, gazing up at Sirius with that mischievous twinkle in her dark eyes that probably mounted to trouble. "Like you and Hestia?"

It was Remus's turn to laugh. He decided he was going to like having Tonks around.

"How do you know Hestia?" Sirius asked Tonks darkly.

"She's in my house," Tonks answered innocently. "But don't worry, I wont tell her."

The two boys watched Tonks skip cheerfully towards the Hufflepuff table.

"Is she always this forward?" Remus asked, watching as Tonks sequestered herself between two first years and helped herself to some cereal.

Sirius rolled his eyes with a nod. Clapping a hand to his friend's back, he steered him towards the Gryffindor table. "I see timetables are being passed out." And just as Sirius had predicted, Lupin's eyes lit up at the prospect of classes.

xoxoxox

Each class for the fifth years started off the same. A great emphasis was placed upon the examinations they would have to face come June. The OWLS or Ordinary Wizarding Levels were a deciding factor in the classes they would be allowed to take at Newt level and potentially their careers. However, this fact still didn't stop Sirius and James from having their minds trailing elsewhere during History of Magic where Professor Binns, a ghost, was going on and on about Giant Wars.

Sirius's chin fell into his palm as he glanced Remus Lupin's way. The boy had his quill poised between his finger and thumb, frantically scratching every word Professor Binns lectured onto the sheaf of parchment before him. Dipping the quill into the bottle of ink whenever required. This was probably the most active thing happening in class. Even studious Evans was gazing out the window. Unless one counted Pettigrew's occasional snores as he dozed off. Bless him, Professor Binns never noticed.

His grey eyes dropped to his own parchment. All Sirius had managed was a doodle of a dog. At least Remus would allow them to copy his notes. However, Lupin's note taking was thwarted when a crumbled piece of parchment collided into his light-brown hair.

Twisting his torso, Remus faced James Potter with a glare. James, however, continued to grin cheekily. Frowning, Remus was left with no choice but to turn around and unravel the crumbled ball to read the slanted text within.

 _Tonight at 9_

With curiosity getting the best of him, Lupin abandoned his quill and faced Potter again. But Potter was now gazing out the window. The sunlit grounds were peppered with cottony dandelions. Remus was aware of what James was thinking. It was a great day for quidditich. Beside, he was certain he knew what James's cryptic note entailed. James was close to becoming an Animagi. Real close.

xoxoxox

The challenge was no longer sneaking out past curfew. No, the real feat was four growing boys trying to cover themselves entirely with James Potter's invisibility cloak. The cloak had been in the boy's family for centuries, and while most faded over time, this cloak still mysteriously looked as if it had just been unwrapped.

"But where are we even going?" Pettigrew asked in a wheezing voice, which trembled the moment they passed a figure they thought must be filch.

"Keep quiet, will you," Sirius hissed, unable to keep his eyes from rolling. Although, for Peter's sake, at least the boy hadn't seen Sirius do such a thing. His confidence was never easy to keep up.

Peter immediately quieted, and instead concentrated on the task of keeping his steps in sync with the three taller boys. Peter was easily the shortest. Even Lily Evans height had inched passed his.

The boys turned a corner. Peter nearly tripped over his feet, and the cloak flapped over his ankles.

"Who goes there?" asked a drawling voice, which was easily recognizable to the boys. "Lumos!" It continued, and a burst of light erupted form the tip of his wand.

Pettigrew nearly yelped. Lupin was quick and used his own hand to squash out Peter's cry. The boys froze in sync, squinting from the light Severus Snape was unknowingly beaming at them.

"Potter!"

James rolled his dark eyes as Snape pushed back a curtain of greasy black hair. He was gazing directly over James's head.

"Reveal yourself," Snape exclaimed. He extended his wand.

Lupin's eyes widened and so did Peter's. If Snape pushed his wand any further, he'd make contact with Pettigrew's belly. However, this was thwarted by the presence of Miss. Norris. The cat's yellow eye's glowed beadily as they fixed upon Snape's back, who turned as if the cat's eyes had penetrated into his clothing. The presence of Miss. Norris only meant one thing. The caretaker, Argus Filch, wouldn't be too far behind. Potter wanted to laugh. Cursing, Severus withdrew his wand. Pettigrew was finally able to relax his stomach. And before Filch appeared with his lantern, Snape bolted from the scene.

xoxoxox

Once discovering of Lupin's lycanthropy, the boys set off on an expedition of how to ease Remus's suffering. No potion or anecdote existed, as of date, to cease the painful transformations Lupin had to go through every full moon. The boys hadn't left a page in a book on werewolves, magical creatures, or potions unturned. Therefore, they began to seek alternative methods.

In the boys' third year, Professor McGonagall lit a candle to their burning hope during one of the most memorable transfiguration lessons. Thus, the boys began studying the art of becoming an Animagi clandestinely. However, the road of this endeavor was anything but easy. The potion was far more complex than where they had reached in their magical education.

A mandrake leaf had to be kept in ones mouth for an entire month, which was then used in a potion that had to be concocted during a full moon. Lupin couldn't be there to help, but he was okay with that. Potions had never been the boy's best subject. The mandrake leaf was then placed in a phial that had been touched by the moon's pure rays along with one's own hairs and a silver teaspoon of dew that had not been touched by human feet or had been exposed to sunlight for seven days. Additionally the chrysalis of Death's Head Hawk Moth was also required. This potion, which was kept in the dark, could not be disturbed in any way. Without fail, from sunrise to sunset, while awaiting a lightening storm, the incantation "Amato Animo Animato Animagus," had to be recited by the drinker by placing ones wand over their heart. Once the electrical storm struck, the potion was drunk.

James Potter had been practicing fervently, which is why he stood before the other three boys, in a wide torch lit passage, in the form of a stag.

Pettigrew gasped and Sirius ceased exploring the rough stone walls of the passage Potter had discovered before the end of last term.

"You've done it!" Lupin said in awe as he pushed his weight off the stone wall and approached the stag. The only feature of the animal alluding to James was darker fur around the eyes of the stag, reminiscent of James's round-framed glasses.

Potter morphed back into his human form without much effort. "And by the next full moon," he began, facing Pettigrew and Black. "You two should be able to as well."


End file.
